An excellent Marxist reading of working conditions in the gig economy in London. He started off wanting to chart the misery of working conditions but found workers fond of London and keen to get on. Good on "Cool capital" and why exploitative companies don't feel the need to change.

I reviewed this in more depth on my blog https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2021/03/06/book-reviews-chris-mcmillan-the-london-dream-and-pete-lindsay-mark-bowden-pig-wrestling/

London is the place to be, the place where with a little fortune you can make it big. This is the idea that has soaked imaginations in millions of students or migrants in search of a better future. But the reality is much more complicated and it is made of precarious working conditions, zero-hour contracts, hard work and resilience. With a deep analysis, Chris McMillan demonstrates the intimate connection of the London dream with the brutal logic of capitalism that has at its core a great sense of inequality (accumulation of wealth on one side and misery on the other side). And London is not an exception, because, generally, the most attractive cities are also the most unequal.
London is a place where all migrants are welcome and this openness has made London an attractive hub for businesses and people willing to work above anything else. The City is hungry for new bodies and new dreamers, of people still believing that things can get better because London will provide them with opportunities unavailable elsewhere, of workers desperate to be exploited, even if their salary is well below the London Living Wage. The London dream is the narrative that has motivated Londoners and newcomers for centuries and helped them to justify their suffering. The story of London as the place to be has been continually revived, and even today there is a healthy supply of human material ready for exploitation by the city’s employers hoping for a better life.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. All views are my own given in exchange for an honest review. This will be posted on Netgalley and Goodreads (might be posted on Instagram, as well).

Upfront - I am a researcher in political science and have a special interest in migration and London. So, this book is an excellent match for my personal and academic interest.

I really, really liked this book. McMillan did an excellent job at conveying fact and anecdotal information. "The London Dream" is something that has ingrained itself as a social and cultural phenomena globally. The pull of London is its "coolness" and its history, as well as the potential for excellent work. The stories of migration to London, even if its Englanders moving to their capital or expats from other countries, vary in cause and impact. I think this is an important facet of understanding why and how people move around the globe, especially in heightened globalization + migration (and backlashes against these phenomena). Excellent book and will be suggesting it for my university's library.

This book was so informative and interesting. The beginning was a lot about the founding of London and history in the 1800s. It was super interesting but not entirely what I had expected. We then got to current day London which was more of what I had expected. I am very pleased with how it came together and made such an enjoyable read.

Thanks to John Hunt Publishing and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Now available!

From gentle amusement to bewilderment, Chris McMillan's The London Dream explores what continues to draw so many wide eyed college graduates to the gloomy city streets. Tracing the precarious lives of "creatives" like museum workers, actors, writers and influencers through interviews, McMillan shows how London creates a "cool capitalism" that relies on a sea of talented, unemployed, and thirsty workers, Even more so, McMillan shows the policies and structures that allows cool capitalism to flourish and predate on those vulnerable dreamers. Most interestingly, he pulls the layers back on modern London to show the always hungry worker at the bottom rung, ready to do whatever it takes to make it up another ladder while those at the top watch on with bemusement. A chilling and eye opening read!

This was a very interesting read for me the idea of a welcoming London.London where immigrants people seeking a better life turn up.In reality it is not welcome to all society there is no golden streets.#The Londondreams#netgalley

The London Dream is a look at the mythology around London as a city and the dreams of success that people have for living there. McMillan looks at a range of jobs and dreams and the ways in which myths have been structured to bring people to London, to contribute to its economy and to its 'cool' status, and how these use certain versions of capitalism and precarious work. Various Londoners have been interviewed and their experiences sit alongside the analysis of the image of 'cool capitalism' and how the labour of precariously employed and badly paid people keeps the cool, creative image of London going.

This is an engrossing book, not because the symbiotic relationship between the 'cool' image of London, which comes with dreams of making it big, and the underpaid, not-officially-employed labour that is needed to make London this way is a revelation, but because McMillan lays out these ideas in a clear, interesting way and combines them with the real stories of people who believe London is their place to be, but have also had to deal with many of its downsides. What feels particularly important is the fact the book covers both the dreams of aspiring creative types trying to break into industries due to the opportunities in London and the dreams of people looking to do often service industry jobs to support themselves and their families, and both groups have 'migrated' to London in some way from somewhere else, on the hope of work and experiences. The history of London in these areas is charted at relevant points, but the book feels very focused on the present, a kind of warning about the labour and personal realities of the dream of the big city.

As someone who did move to London for a couple of years and found some of the content very relatable (I worked alongside aspiring and out-of-work actors in hospitality), The London Dream was particularly satisfying, as a kind of proof that the image of London isn't all it is cracked up to be. The book's specific focus on particular areas of labour, notably the gig economy and the creative industries, means that it leaves you wanting more of a look at other broader and more specific issues, to tear down the 'London dream' and leave behind a reality where things could be better for thousands of people living in the city.

Isn't it funny that The London Dream vividly captured what the Nairobi dream is...through the eyes of the workers, of those who are hanging by a thread of hope and like 'New York' the feeling of if you make it here then you can make it anywhere?
This book has just reminded me of a path I started pursuing but gave up on- the path of understanding and advocating for policies in cities, on housing and more so on minimum wages for casual laborers and a part of me truly thinks that I can still look into it.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.